1/ A very interesting interview with Donbas separatist Pavel Gubarev is being interpreted by Russian warbloggers as a move by 'angry patriots' to lay the ground for a coup in Russia. They see a potential replay of the 1918 overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II. ⬇️
2/ The interview is notable not only for its revealing admissions about Russia's seizure of the Donbas in 2014, which Russian nationalists refer to as 'the Russian Spring', but for its choice of venue.
3/ Yuri Dud, to whom Gubarev spoke, is a German-born Russian journalist and YouTuber who now lives in exile. He has been labelled a 'foreign agent' by the Russian government and was sentenced in absentia to 23 months' imprisonment in November 2025.
4/ 'Comrade Artem' writes:
"I think Gubarev didn’t just give an interview to Dud for no reason; he also spouted a whole load of nonsense that discredits not only the Special Military Operation but also the Russian Spring,…
5/ …and Gubarev’s own involvement in that has always raised a lot of questions for me…
What Gubarev told Dudya indirectly confirms what the esteemed Vladimir Anatolyevich Lepekhin is saying: the establishment liberals have begun work to remove the ‘old guard’ from power.
6/ "Given that the ‘state-oriented’ figures didn’t exactly catch many mice in their youth, and certainly not now, the very near future looks set to be very turbulent. Are you ready for it?
7/ "Gubarev, who seems to personify the opposition patriots, has begun to align himself with the non-establishment liberals in the form of Dud and his audience.
8/ "Therefore, it is highly likely that behind Gubarev stand the establishment liberals, whose task is to bring the patriotic opposition and the liberal opposition together. All in all, a perfectly understandable political objective."
9/ Alexey Zhivov agrees, and comments on the points from the interview that he personally noted:
"Speaking on behalf of ‘angry patriots’, Gubarev appeared on the largest opposition platform alongside ‘angry liberals’, thereby seemingly bringing them together."
10/ "Gubarev voices personal grievances against Vladimir Putin and his style of political governance. In other words, there is criticism from the liberals, and now, from the other side, criticism from the ‘patriots’ through Gubarev’s words.
11/ "No platform other than Dud would have allowed Gubarev’s appearance to become such a significant event. This is a calculated manoeuvre to capture the entire protest audience in Russia and abroad.
12/ "From the above, I conclude that at a certain point, they intend to turn these ‘angry patriots’ into a political torpedo aimed at the president.
13/ "All this strongly reminds me of the scenario of the 1914–1918 war and the run-up to the February Revolution, which, I would remind you, was bourgeois-patriotic; Nicholas was accused of political weakness, whilst the ‘angry patriots’ promised war until victory and…
14/ …prosperity for Russia. There were not many traitors around Nicholas, but all of them (generals, ministers, deputies, family members) were very close to him, whilst the urban public and patriots were merely required not to oppose the tsar’s removal.
15/ "I made my position clear on 24 February 2022, and it has not changed since then. Personally, I do not wish to be anyone’s pawn, and I would not advise anyone else to be one either. We have a legitimately elected government and established procedures.
16/ "If the government takes unpopular measures, it can be reasonably criticised and alternative options proposed, but certainly not by participating in others’ schemes to destabilise it. We’ve had enough of that in past years; enough is enough.
17/ "The President launched the military campaign in Ukraine through his own resolute decision, and he will end it through the same decision when the time comes.
18/ "It is better to achieve modest results whilst preserving a stable constitutional order and legitimate authority than to play the games being imposed on us from outside.
19/ "When the Russian state is in decline, it always crushes first all that is good, bright and eternal. So let it stand firm. Amen." /end
Sources:
🔹 t.me/t_artm/7480
🔹 t.me/t_artm/7481
🔹 t.me/t_artm/7482
🔹 t.me/zhivoff/25999
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